I am often asked, “Why did you get your Masters in Mental
Health Counseling and open a private practice?”
My whole life, I have listened to others’ problems, given
support and offered advice. This started
on the playground and developed further during single life in Manhattan – in fact,
there were six couples married through my matchmaking efforts. As a
married, mother of two, I still enjoyed being there for others and had
experienced many of the difficulties and challenges facing my peers – marital struggles,
child-raising difficulties and feelings of dissatisfaction, loneliness and
frustration.
On the professional side, experience developed as a
recruiter through working with hundreds of candidates on strength accentuation
and goal pursuit. Mentoring became part
of the job in sales, as a corporate trainer – and I loved it.
I’ve never been shy and have always been full of advice and
a desire to be helpful. So, I could have
done any number of things that combined my passions without going back for a
master’s degree.
But I realized I could be biased and over-zealous in my
efforts to help someone. I needed to
learn to see things, not just from my point of view, but through demonstrated methods
and researched techniques. I wanted to
learn from professionals – in school, during internship and through entry-level
counseling jobs.
I also realized that sometimes, even with the best
intentions, when given advice, it is human nature to fight against it –
especially if we feel the other person isn’t being objective. I
needed to learn how to work with clients to help them solve their own problems.
Yes. I am a very
directive counselor. I offer suggestions
and scenarios. “What if” scenarios are
played out in many different directions.
Yes, sometimes clients know where I stand on an issue, but they know
there is no judgment – no right and wrong. We are collaborating to find the right
solutions for that person. In my
practice, I get to work with people with their own, unique problems, and use
life, school and work experience to help them have a happier more fulfilling
life. That is why I became a Mental
Health Counselor with my own practice.
